The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, and its performance profile on the Intel Core i5-12600KF with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 reveals a system that is heavily balanced toward GPU-bound rendering at high resolutions, yet still exhibits measurable CPU influence at lower settings. The data set covers four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—across three resolutions, providing a clear picture of how this combination scales. This analysis is based exclusively on the measured FPS values and hardware specifications provided, with no external assumptions.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S generation, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, and it carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1.25 MB of L2 per core and 80 KB of L1 per core. The CPU’s benchmark profile shows strong multi-threaded capability—Cinebench R23 multicore scores 23391, while the single-core test reaches 3302. In 3DMark, the 16-thread score is 7956, and the max-thread score is 7952, indicating that scaling from 16 threads to the full thread count adds almost nothing, which suggests the processor is already saturated at 16 threads for synthetic workloads.

In The Medium, the CPU’s influence is most visible when the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS is 150, which is the highest recorded value for this combination. This figure suggests that the i5-12600KF can feed the RTX 4070 enough data to reach a high frame rate, but it does not indicate a CPU ceiling, because the GPU still has headroom at lower resolutions. The processor’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and PassMark single-thread score of 3925 point to solid per-core performance, which matters for the game’s fixed-camera scenes that often rely on a few heavily loaded threads. However, the game’s horror genre typically involves limited on-screen characters and static environments, so the CPU demand is moderate. The 125 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support are relevant for sustained performance, but the measured FPS data does not show any resolution where the CPU becomes the primary limiter—even at 1080p Low, the 150 FPS average is well above typical display refresh rates, and the GPU is still generating frames at a rate that suggests no severe CPU stall.

Comparing the i5-12600KF to its nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database, it sits within a narrow band. The Intel Core i9-10900K averages 27872, which is 0.3% higher than the i5-12600KF’s 27799 average. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE averages 27712, 0.3% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U averages 27887, 0.3% higher. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, a gaming-focused chip, averages 27896, also 0.3% higher. These deltas are negligible, meaning that in a CPU-bound scenario, the i5-12600KF would perform nearly identically to these rivals. In The Medium, the CPU’s 79th percentile ranking among all tested CPUs further confirms that it is not a weak link, but the game’s results show that the GPU is the dominant factor at higher settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. It has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1920 MHz, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and the memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU’s shading units total 5888, with 184 texture mapping units and 64 ROPs. It also includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which are relevant for The Medium’s use of ray-traced reflections and shadows in certain scenes, though the measured FPS data does not specify whether ray tracing is enabled in any preset.

The GPU’s raw compute performance is substantial: FP32 throughput is 29.15 TFLOPS, and the texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 scores 26927 in PassMark G3D and 154858 in Geekbench OpenCL, with a Vulkan score of 174152. These numbers place it in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Notably, its nearest rivals in the GPU database include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, 0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507, 0.4% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38135, 1.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157, 1.3% lower). The RTX 4070 sits near the top of this small group, but the deltas are small.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is clear from the FPS scaling. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 35, which is the lowest recorded figure, and at 4K High it is 44. These numbers indicate that the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s textures, but the compute load at 4K Ultra exceeds what the GPU can sustain at playable rates. The 12 GB VRAM is not the limiting factor here—the game’s requirements are likely below that at 4K Ultra, but the FPS drop from 62 at 4K Medium to 35 at 4K Ultra suggests a steep increase in shading and post-processing load. The GPU’s 64 ROPs and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate are adequate for 4K, but the 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is not enough to maintain 60 FPS at Ultra settings. At 1080p, the GPU is clearly not the bottleneck at Low (150 FPS) or Medium (93 FPS), but at High (67 FPS) and Ultra (53 FPS), the rendering load begins to dominate.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data shows a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, average FPS drops, but the rate of drop varies by preset. At Low settings, the FPS goes from 150 at 1080p to 126 at 1440p, then to 99 at 4K. This represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 21% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 34%. This relatively small drop for a 4x pixel count increase suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is not fully utilized at 1080p—the CPU or other system components are likely limiting the frame rate. The fact that 150 FPS at 1080p does not scale to 600 FPS at 4K (which would be pixel-bound) confirms that the GPU has spare capacity at lower resolutions.

At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 93 at 1080p to 79 at 1440p (a 15% drop), then to 62 at 4K (a 22% drop from 1440p). The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 33%. This pattern is similar to Low, but the absolute FPS values are lower, indicating that the GPU is doing more work per frame. At High settings, the FPS drops from 67 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p (a 16% drop), then to 44 at 4K (a 21% drop). The total drop is 34%. At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 53 at 1080p to 45 at 1440p (a 15% drop), then to 35 at 4K (a 22% drop). The total drop is 34%.

The consistency of these percentage drops—all around 33-34% from 1080p to 4K—is telling. If the GPU were purely pixel-bound, the drop would be closer to 75% (since 4K has 4x the pixels of 1080p). The fact that the drop is only about a third suggests that the game is not purely pixel-bound, and that other factors—such as CPU overhead, memory bandwidth, or game engine inefficiencies—are contributing. However, the absolute FPS values show that at 4K Ultra (35 FPS) and 4K High (44 FPS), the GPU is clearly the limiting component, as the CPU cannot compensate for the rendering load. At 1080p Low (150 FPS), the GPU is not the limit, but the CPU is also not showing a hard ceiling—the frame rate is likely constrained by the game’s engine tick rate or draw call overhead. The data suggests that this system is GPU-bound at 4K and CPU-bound (or engine-bound) at 1080p Low, with a transition zone around 1440p Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 93 FPS, with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 108. This is the only 1080p preset with min/max data. The Low preset reaches 150 FPS average, High drops to 67, and Ultra falls to 53. The spread from Low to Ultra is 97 FPS, which is the largest gap among all resolutions. This indicates that at 1080p, the settings have a dramatic impact on performance, and the GPU is capable of high frame rates when visual quality is reduced. The Medium preset at 1080p provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, and the min of 79 suggests that even in heavy scenes, the frame rate stays well above playable levels.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 79 FPS, with a min of 67 and max of 91. Low averages 126, High averages 56, and Ultra averages 45. The gap between Low and Ultra is 81 FPS, slightly smaller than at 1080p, but still substantial. At 1440p, the Medium preset remains above 60 FPS on average, and the min of 67 shows that the system can hold near-60 FPS even in demanding moments. High at 56 FPS is slightly below 60, and Ultra at 45 FPS requires a compromise for smoother motion.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset averages 62 FPS, with a min of 53 and max of 71. Low averages 99, High averages 44, and Ultra averages 35. The gap between Low and Ultra is 64 FPS, the smallest among all resolutions, but the absolute values are lower. At 4K, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, and the Medium preset just barely reaches 62 on average but dips to 53 at minimum. High and Ultra are not suitable for 60 FPS gameplay, as they average 44 and 35 respectively. The data shows that 4K Medium is the highest setting that can maintain an average above 60 FPS, but the 53 FPS minimum means occasional drops below the target.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 833rd out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the top 22.4% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing given the breadth of hardware combinations in the database. The rank is based on the measured FPS data across all presets and resolutions, and it reflects that this system is capable of running the game at high settings at 1080p and 1440p, with only 4K Ultra proving too demanding.

The 833rd rank out of 3724 combos means that roughly 2891 other combinations perform worse, while 832 perform better. Given that this combo includes a mid-range to high-end CPU and a high-end GPU, the rank is consistent with expectations. The CPU’s 79th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 81st percentile ranking individually suggest that both components are above average, but the combo’s rank in this specific game is influenced by the game’s engine and resolution scaling characteristics. The fact that the combo sits in the top quarter of all tested systems indicates that it can handle The Medium with ease at most settings, and the only area where it falls short is 4K Ultra, which demands more GPU compute than the RTX 4070 can provide at playable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and frame rate. For 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79, which provides a smooth experience with a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The High preset at 67 FPS is also playable, but the 26 FPS difference between Medium and High is significant, and Medium offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra preset at 53 FPS is borderline, with an average below 60, so it is not recommended for consistent smoothness. The Low preset at 150 FPS is excessive for most displays, so it sacrifices visual quality for no practical benefit.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67, which is ideal for 60 Hz or 144 Hz displays. This is the sweet spot at 1440p, as it maintains an average well above 60 and a minimum that does not drop below 67. The High preset at 56 FPS is slightly below 60, and the Ultra preset at 45 FPS is too low for smooth gameplay. The Low preset at 126 FPS is playable but wastes visual fidelity. For 3840x2160, the Medium preset averages 62 FPS with a minimum of 53, which is the highest setting that can average above 60. However, the 53 FPS minimum means that some scenes will drop below 60, so players who prioritize consistent frame rates may prefer the Low preset at 99 FPS. The High preset at 44 FPS and Ultra at 35 FPS are not recommended for 4K gaming.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, as it is the only preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 1080p (93), 1440p (79), and 4K (62). The High preset is a step down, and the Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p (53 FPS), which is still below the 60 FPS target. Therefore, the recommendation is to use the Medium preset for a consistent experience, with the option to drop to Low at 4K if the 53 FPS minimum in Medium is deemed too low.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS is 93, with a minimum of 79 and a maximum of 108.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K with High settings?

A: No, the average FPS at 4K High is 44, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: The Low preset averages 126 FPS, while Ultra averages 45 FPS, making Low approximately 2.8 times faster in terms of FPS.

Q: What is the highest settings preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS at 4K?

A: The Medium preset averages 62 FPS at 4K, but the minimum is 53, so it is the highest preset that averages above 60.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in The Medium?

A: It ranks 833rd out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the top 22.4% of all systems.

Q: What is the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra, the FPS drops from 53 at 1080p to 35 at 4K, a reduction of 18 FPS or approximately 34%.